Thursday, March 31, 2011

Are Israel and the USA attempting to destabilise Syria?

As the global media cheers on NATO’s war on Libya, the media focus is increasing on the unrest in Syria. While the Western press is claiming that Syrian forces are ‘firing on their own people’, other reports would suggest that a complex nexus of subversion could also be at work to destabilise the Middle Eastern country.Syria has been a staunch supporter of Palestinian liberation and was opposed to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. Israel has occupied the part of Syrian territory called the Golan Heights since 1967, when up to 110 thousand Syrians were forced to leave their homes.

Syria has been in the firing line of US/Israeli imperialism for many decades. In 2003, the United States Congress passed the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Act (SALSRA), which threatened Syria with sanctions if it did not follow orders from Washington.Section 2 of the act states“1) On September 20, 2001, President George Bush stated at a joint session of Congress that `[e]very nation, in every region, now has a decision to make . . . [e]ither you are with us, or you are with the terrorists . . . [f]rom this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime'. [1]

On Friday March 11th 2011, Syrian state media revealed that the country’s security forces had seized a large quantity of fire arms, explosives, grenades and night-vision goggles coming from Iraq.The Syrian authorities claimed that the weapons shipment was intended “for use in actions that affect Syria’s internal security and spread unrest and chaos”.[2]On Saturday last, Syrian state television broadcasted confessions from foreign agents of different nationalities, after they were detained following violent clashes with Syrian police in several Syrian cities.Mohammad Radwan 3 of dual US/Egyptian citizenship, currently working in Syria, was among those who confessed to having recently visited Israel for secret talks. The Egyptian claimed he had been given the mission of diffusing images and videos designed to create the impression that Syria was about to collapse in chaos.The American citizen confessed to having been paid 100 Egyptian pounds but that he had not yet agreed the sum to be paid for the videos.According to Venezuelan state-media Radio Del Sur:“There are strong links between the Israeli and Colombian paramilitaries. In 2010, President Juan Manuel Santos, said he was "concerned" about the case of Yair Klein, a former Israeli military who travelled to Colombia to train Colombian paramilitary groups and performed "services" to the drug cartels.

As recognized by Santos himself, "Klein was one of the architects of that process led paramilitary after so much violence in Colombia."[3]Similar confessions have been aired by Syrian state television before. In November 2008 confessions from an Islamic militant group linked to Al Qaeda believed by the Syrian authorities to have been financed by the current pro-Western Lebanese leader Saad Hariri were aired on Syrian state television. As the BBC reports:

“Speaking against the same black backdrop, the men admitted responsibility for the explosion, the aim of which, they said was to harm the Syrian government.

One aspect of the "confessions" may be particularly damaging, and may have wider regional implications. According to the televised testimonies, the explosives used in the attack were brought from northern Lebanon, where Fatah al-Islam, it is claimed, received financial support from the party of the country's pro-Western Sunni leader Saad Hariri.” [4]

Contrary to the reports of the western media, the president of Syria Bashar Al Assad remains a popular figure due to his opposition to US/Israeli imperialism in the Middle East.

Hundreds of thousands of supporters demonstrated in favour of the Syrian president in Damascus on the 29th of March 2011 in support for president Assad after his cabinet resigned. President Assad has promised to end the state of emergency in place since 1963 as well as implementing other reforms.[5]

Hundreds of Syrian communities abroad Greece, Bahrein, India, Russia and Belarus expressed their solidarity with the Syrian president. There were also demonstrations in the Lebanese city of Al-Nabatiya in support of the Syrian president.[6]

A peaceful ‘Day of Rage’ organised by opponents of the Syrian government on Facebook, was scheduled to take place in early February but protestors failed to show up.

The recent violence reported in several cities in Syria has received extensive coverage in the western press. But the circumstances of violence remain vague. It is not entirely clear whether peaceful protestors are being murdered by the police or the police are being murdered by the protestors. Some reports claim that 7 policemen have been murdered.[7]

What is clear, however, is that Israel has been lobbying for similar military action against Syria. After a meeting with his French counterpart Alain Juppé, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman told Reuters News Agency:

“I think that the same principles, activities the Western world (has taken) in Libya ... I hope to see those regarding the Iranian regime and the Syrian regime.” [8]

Syrian authorities have accused the Israeli secret service Mossad of attempting to destabilise the country. Given the role of US, French and British intelligence agencies, backed by the international corporate media, in the destabilisation of Libya, President Assad’s claims that foreign mercenaries in the service of Israel are now attempting to destabilise Syria are highly credible.